Improve Classroom Climate with Dynamic Mindfulness
We know that challenges with toxic stress and trauma amongst our educators and the youth they serve affect learning readiness, school classroom climate, and teacher burnout. What can we do about it? Many educators are struggling with this question and searching for answers. Niroga Institute's Dynamic Mindfulness (DMind) programs should be considered as a comprehensive solution.
Dynamic Mindfulness is a combination of movement, breathing and centering that can be done anytime, anywhere to support social-emotional learning goals of stress-resilience, emotion regulation, self-awareness, and healthy relationships. Niroga provides our Dynamic Mindfulness curriculum (also known as Transformational Life Skills (TLS)) in a variety of classrooms (K-12, Special Ed, Alternative Ed) around the SF Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego and New Jersey. At the close of each school term, we survey students and teachers to gather data about program impact. The compelling results from our Spring 2019 semester surveys have recently been released showing positive benefits on student and teacher well-being.
Surveys were administered to 1500 students in 23 schools in the SF Bay Area who participated in Niroga’s TLS curriculum of 15-minute movement, breathing and centering practices integrated with an SEL lesson, 1-3 times each week. We asked students to self-report on their experience. We also asked teachers to report on their perception of the students using the same variables.
Almost all the teachers who offered Dynamic Mindfulness programs in their classrooms felt that their students were better at managing stress. Eighty percent of the teachers felt that their students were better at focusing and paying attention.
Of the 140 teachers surveyed, 89% felt that they have a better classroom climate than they did prior to implementing the Dynamic Mindfulness program and three quarters of the teachers said they were sustaining themselves better as educators.
Regular practice of Dynamic Mindfulness promotes the deactivation of the stress response and supports a person’s ability to operate within, and eventually widen, their window of tolerance; the zone in which a person is able to function optimally. When teachers and students are functioning optimally, they are able to process information, regulate emotions, and feel empathy and connection with each other; key components of a positive classroom environment.
Both prevention and intervention strategies are supported through Dynamic Mindfulness. As prevention, Dynamic Mindfulness sessions can be delivered in the following ways:
- In-class sessions led by Niroga instructors or classroom teachers who are trained in trauma-informed DMind
- Educator self-care sessions led by Niroga instructors or trained classroom teachers
- Staff and teacher professional development training and coaching
- Classroom teachers leading in-class sessions with the support of the TLS/DMind video library
- Student leaders trained to lead other students in DMind
As an intervention strategy, Dynamic Mindfulness sessions can be offered as:
- Alternatives to school detention
- Support for de-escalation via small pull-out groups
- Video lessons offered in school wellness rooms
- Brief dynamic mindfulness sessions in the classroom as needed
Join us at our next in-person Dynamic Mindfulness Training in Oakland, Los Angeles, or Houston to learn how to incorporate Niroga’s research-based mindfulness/SEL curriculum into your classroom or school.
Comments (0)